Get Back Part 1

I was introduced to The Beatles Let It Be album as a teenager. i distinctly remember buying the cassette from Impulse Records in Hamilton and playing it on the way back to Carluke in the car with my Mum. 

It's not the best Beatles record, it's not my favourite, but I love it. The rawness, the guitar sounds, Lennon singing everybody had a wet dream, a mention for Matt Busby, McCartney pouring his heart out ... and then I'd learn of the rooftop gig. One of my favourite Beatles moments.

And I learned of how the album came about, of how the film that documented recording was essentially a documentary of The Beatles breaking up on screen.

And then came the trailer for Peter Jackson's new version of the documentary that promised the band playing together, joking and looking like a band.

Who is right? The legions of fans who had watched bootleg footage over the years? Or Jackson?

Only one way to find out.

Part 1

At one point in Part 1 of the Get Back documentary George Harrison says that The Beatles have 'been in the doldrums for at least 18-months' and it shows. It's January 1969 and they are sitting around in a cavernous studio with dates circled in the calendar for a rehearsal and a show.

Over cups of tea and toast, a glum faced Ringo, scowling Harrison and spaced out Lennon with Yoko by his side (often knitting) and a couple of George's Hare Krishna mates sitting cross legged in the background, The Beatles look a little lost. Paul McCartney, in contrast, looks like he has had a double espresso, raring to go.

Trusty sidekick Mal Evans is there, a very cool looking Glyn Johns who looks like he should be in a band himself and director Michael Lindsay-Hogg, almost permanently smoking fat cigars, are trying to cajole them into action.

The trouble is, they have very little new material ready to go. There are immediately bug bears - Lindsay-Hogg constantly goes on about filming the performance in far away places that none of them have the desire to go to, while straight away Harrison is moaning about the sound and lack of equipment. Eventually George's own recording machine 'careful with that, that was £10,000' is wheeled in out the back of an Apple branded truck.

Lennon has Don't Let Me Down, McCartney has Two Of Us and that is about it. They play endlessly with Don't Let Me Down, McCartney adding backing vocals and ad libbing endlessly to try and generate some energy.

His friend Lennon produces some outrageous rock n roll vocals, even while sitting down, but the energy isn't there. Lennon and Ono were heavily rumoured to be in a heroin haze around this time.

Harrison plays All Things Must Pass, but in almost the same breath he says he's not sure he wants any of his songs used. Lennon has the bones of Gimme Some Truth that the band jam through.

George speaks in awe of his friend Eric Clapton, the band play I'm So Tired looking bleary eyed / bored / stoned and Lennon nods off. 

At one point during this stage McCartney was beginning to annoy me, as well as Lennon and Harrison, as he attempted to find something in Don't Let Me Down. Eventually Glyn Johns steps in to offer his own solution and things thankfully move on. 

Paul talks about something being too complicated, needing to be simplified, then complicated, but it's complicated enough ... I'm surprised George didn't down tools and walk off at this point!

'I'm trying to help you, but I always feel as if I am annoying you.' Paul

McCartney is the one that downs his bass, frustrated by the pressure of leading the band after the death of Brian Epstein. 

You could cut the air with a knife, the tension is palpable. This is when George says his famous line about playing whatever Paul wants him to play, or he'll not play at all. This is only day 3.

On day 4, in the face of adversity McCartney starts jamming Get Back. Harrison, despite yawning at the start, realises he is on to something. The footage is remarkable, Paul finding the melody, improvising lyrics, George joining in on guitar. And then Paul finds the hook get back, get back, get back to where you once belonged. Ringo sings it with him. Lennon has yet to turn up!

Lennon rocks up wearing the same clothes as the day before, Lindsey-Hogg goes back to talking about going away, and the good vibe is lost.

At one point McCartney gets frustrated from the lack of enthusiasm, Harrison says that a lot will come out of it if we get the enthusiasm. McCartney says he wants to do a show but doesn't feel a lot of support. It leads to The Beatles default leader saying this will be the last. We either go home, or we do it.

Maybe we have a divorce, says George. Well I said that at the last meeting, says Paul. Who'll get the children, jokes John.

You think things can't go any lower ... then McCartney introduces the band to Maxwell's Silver Hammer! Mal Evans even bangs a hammer! Lennon's eyes have no spark at all. 

On to 8th January Harrison introduces I Me Mine, allegedly about McCartney. If Paul, realises, he hides it well, probably just delighted that George has something to offer. Paul then has a conversation with John to say they are facing a crisis. Lennon offers him the reassurance that he comes up with the goods when he has his back to the wall.

There is a great moment when John and Paul share a microphone, standing up to sing Two Of Us. But then they are back to Maxwell's Silver Hammer!

Then, as The Beatles are all off in different corners of the room, with Lennon discussing a potential amphitheatre show,  McCartney is seated at a piano, playing Let It Be, working on the song lyrics and structure. Starr looks on wistfully and comments to someone that he could watch Paul play piano all day long.

Tension is everywhere though and the people involved in filming and recording notice it. Lindsey-Hogg says to John - Paul and you are not getting on as well as you did. The distraction of not knowing where the actual performance will be filmed takes up a lot of time and discussion. Ranging from hiring boats to Africa, to dance halls, to the Tower of London. George is mightily pissed off at this point.

Day 6, Paul shows up with a fresh faced Linda McCartney looking beautiful and cool. As if to show off to Linda, Paul immediately goes to the piano to play Another Day. Mal Evans leans against the piano and Paul begins to play The Long And Winding Road, Mal writing down lyrics and giving his opinion

Mal's face is lovely, just smiling at his friend displaying his immense creative talent. Linda looks on adoringly. What an absolute joy to see this footage - McCartney totally in the zone, he then plays Golden Slumbers as Linda takes pictures. George arrives and Paul then plays Carry That Weight, his idea for a song for Ringo.

George plays For You Blue, Lennon and Yoko arrive with John still wearing what he describes as his continuity clothes, with moss growing under my arms. 

Harrison plays a Dylan song, maybe a sign of where he was at, or where he wanted to be. John and Paul re in a jokey mood, George clearly isn't in on the joke.

The footage is remarkable, the four play Let It Be, all of them recognising the beauty in the song. Yoko and Linda chat, laughing and smiling together. For a brief moment, everything seems harmonious.

Day 7 - George does not look happy! Paul and John seem to be interacting well, McCartney is leading on conversation and direction. He is always facing John though, Harrison sits quietly smoking on his amp and is shot down when he attempts to join the conversation. 

McCartney talks about some chords being fashionable or unfashionable, and vamping! Harrison's scowl intensifies as Paul bounces Get Back off John for help with the lyrics. The old partnership is still there. Harrison, is sidelined. It's noticeable he remains seated even when Lennon and McCartney are standing to play Two Of Us.

It's ironic the song the band are playing is titled Two Of Us as Harrison gets up for lunch to announce.

I think I'm leaving the band now. Now. get a placemenmt, write into the NME.

Post lunch, the remaining Beatles appear to have a nervous breakdown on film with Yoko howling as the Paul, John and Ringo create heavy metal noise and feedback. 

What will happen in part 2?

Introducing Spyres

Glasgow is buzzing again, with the fact that gigs are back playing a huge role in getting the city up and running again and putting smiles on peoples faces.

One of the young bands breaking through at present is Spyres, who recently supported The Jesus and Mary Chain at the Barrowland and who now have headline dates of their own at The Mash House in Edinburgh on 1st December, followed by a hometown gig at Stereo in Glasgow on Thursday 2nd December.

With 3 singles (Otherside, Fake ID and I Don't Care) released to date (all with hundreds of thousands of streams on Spotify) and a string of shows, including festivals and the aforementioned support with JAMC, Spyres look set to hit 2022 running. 

Led by Kiera McGuire and Emily Downie, 2 singers/guitarists and songwriters in their teens, with Jude Curran (bass) and Alex White (drums), Spyres have an exciting young energy about them, mixing fiesty and fiery guitars and choruses, with melodic riffs and choruses. Power sometimes, passion always and the talent to bring it all down or play on a riff.

Kiera, Emily & Jude

Listen to the euphoric chorus of Otherside that spills effortlessly into a catchy and playful guitar solo, before flying into a flowing fast paced section, then soars with the chorus again. Then the tale of a great night out in Fake ID, crystal clear vocals for the verses, then harmonies for the chorus, the pace changing to suit. 

While I Don't Care might be my favourite of the singles to date. The chorus is delicious and sugary melodic, leading to a powerful, passionate and punky chorus that I found myself singing the melody to after one listen.

I don't care, if you don't care

When you call me in the morning, while you're acting up for your friends

I don't care, if you don't care

Cause I've heard it all before, when you said you wanted more

Will you miss me when I'm not around

After falling for their singles and live show, I was keen to find out a little more about them.

I mentioned Hole meets Fleetwood Mac in my JAMC review which shows my age, so thanks to Emily from the band for answering my questions and providing me with modern day influences.

Spyres are pretty special, don't wait for that hit single that will come their way. Get into them now.

EF - How did the band for? Where are you all from? How did you get to know each other?

ED - I got to know Keira through playing open mic gigs regularly in and around Glasgow about 4-years ago. We had really similar influences and played a lot of the same music as soloists, so naturally we thought it might be interesting to start playing together.

We were an acoustic duo for around 2-years and as much as we loved doing the acoustic stuff, at the time, we both felt like it would be even better to take that next step and make a bigger and heavier noise. We always wanted to go electric and even when it was just the two of us, we would mess around with the electric guitars, but we were still quite young and didn't really know a lot of people our age to come in  play bass and drums. We're really lucky that the first people we asked to try it out with ended up actually working really well with us. 

Jude and Kiera knew each other through social media so she asked if he was up for giving it a go on bass and Jude knew Alex through playing football and chatting about their interest in music, so Jude asked Alex if he would be up for joining the band as well.

How did you start creating music together? Does anyone take the lead on writing? Or do you jam ideas?

Me and Keira will usually get together with the acoustic guitars and play around with some ideas until we've come up with a melody and the basics of the song. We'll then take it to the boys and just jam it out from there. We'll all add in our own ideas to make the song as good as it can be, so it's really collaborative.

When it was just the two of us, we were playing loads of covers and then it got to a point where we knew we wanted to start making our own music, so we just took inspiration from other artists and wrote our own songs, some of which are still in the set today.

What kind of music are you listening to at present? Have any bands influenced you?

We all love listening to a variety of music and have been influenced by many artists including Wolf Alice, Courtney Barnett and Alvvays. Seeing other girls within the industry not be afraid to make noise really inspires us. There is also a lot of great music coming out of Scotland right now too. And to be part of that scene and seeing our friends do well really helps us as we are all supportive of each other. The music is just getting better all the time.

How did you get on playing The Barrowland with The Jesus and Mary Chain?

It was a total dream come true! We waited nearly 2-years for the gig to go ahead, so we were really excited to finally be playing. The Barrowland is such an iconic Scottish venue, so to be on that stage at such a young age was unreal. Me and Kiera actually played the Barrowland around 5-years ago through the Clutha Trust at an open mic night when we were soloists, so to be back years later together was a full circle moment for us. We also did not expect that amount of people to turn up early and see us play, definitely a gig we will never forget.

Spyres at Barrowland

Review HERE

How much are you looking forward to playing Stereo in December?

Playing live is such a great feeling and our favourite part of being in the band, so to be playing our own headline show will be fun. This will be our final headliner of the year, so we'll be going out with a band and in our home city. What more could you ask for?

You've released 3 cracking singles. Can we expect another soon? Did you get to record during lockdown?

Definitely! We'll have a new single out before the end of the year, so we can't wait for everyone to hear it and will definitely be recording very soon in hopes of getting an EP released next year. We got to record a few times while being in lockdown as well. I Don't Care was written and recorded during this period as the restrictions were lifted for a short while last year. We were gutted we couldn't go out immediately and play it live. We had to wait nearly a year for a live audience to hear it, but since then it has went down a storm. 

Our newest single, coming out soon, was also recorded when things were just getting back to normal, so we're really looking forward to it finally being released.

What are your plans for 2022?

We already have some festivals lined up for next year and new music on the way, so we're really excited to get back out there in the new year with new material. We will be recording more next year too and releasing our first EP with some music videos to go along with. We can't wait to see what 2022 has in store.

As we approach the end of the year, have any bands, songs or albums stood out for you in 2021?

There has been a lot of great music released this year, despite the knock the music industry has had. We especially love Wolf Alice's new album Blue Weekend, Silk Sonic's An Evening With Silk Sonic and the two first singles by Wet Leg.

Kiera and Emily

Spyres - I Don't Care

Spyres - Otherside (live session)

Shaky Ground

Tom Morgan & Nic Dalton

Cover version of the month #72

Trust me #29

Sneeze are an Australian band that formed away back in 1991. Consisting of Nic Dalton (owner of Half A Cow Records and one-time Lemonhead) and Tom Morgan (Smudge) plus an array of friends when the mood takes them.

Shaky Ground is a song I discovered a long, long time ago when Evan Dando of The Lemonheads, at the height of his pin-up days promoting It's A Shame About Ray, played an acoustic set that went out on the Evening Session with Mark Goodier in 1993. At one point Dando had to stop the show to ask people to stop screaming.

That night he came on stage and introduced himself with the line; 'Hello jolly children of the universe, my name's Evan Dando and I was born in the spring of the summer of love.' I think I might have swooned myself!

NME cover, September 1993

I taped the show and it was a real favourite bootleg of mine for a long time. Just Dando with an acoustic guitar, playing stunning storytelling songs, originals and covers, in his warm and loving way.

The set was actually released as a bootleg called Suck On This.

Back to the original. 

Dando's 1991 trip to Australia really did change things for him, meeting kindred spirits in Morgan (who he would co-write with, as well as covering a number of his songs) and Dalton, (who joined The Lemonheads on bass) as well as their friends and bandmates, including Alison Galloway who Dando wrote Alison's Starting To Happen about.

From what I can gather, Dando recorded Shaky Ground before it's authors could. The song crops up as a b-side on a number of UK/US releases in 1992. Dando also mentions the song in the Lemonheads film Two Weeks In Australia when he is giving the camera a talk through about all the etchings on his guitar.

Dando in a Smudge t-shirt

Sneeze finally got a debut album out on Nic Dalton's Half A Cow records in 1994. 41 songs in 47-minutes has songs as short as 18-seconds, while Shaky Ground is one of the longest at 1 minute 55 seconds.

It is a really beautiful song.

A girl (Alannah Russack I believe) and boy (Tom Morgan) trade lines in the verses and join together in the choruses. Like most of Morgan's songs, it tells a story. Around the time I discovered the song there was a girl who would walk her dog near my house and if I saw her I'd go out to accidentally bump into her, so I particularly love the line;

When I wanna see you, I take Jersey for a walk

What's with all this secrecy, when all we ever do is talk?

I love this song so much. The feeling from the playing, the vocals - male and female on their own and then together for the chorus. The sheer love that comes across in the song , in the performance, never fails to warms my heart.

Dando's version finds him taking on both the male and female lyrics & character, his voice softening when taking on the female lines. 

Hey Jim, how ya doing, do you need someone else?

Well actually Jemima, I'd prefer to be by myself

Sometimes it helps to have someone else along

But if my girlfriend sees us, she'll come to the conclusion it's wrong

Does this mean we're on shaky ground?

I'm happy when you're around

So let's not put our friendship at bay

I love you in a different way

Paradise and catastrophe, they go side by side

You should tell your baby, we've got nothing to hide

When I wanna see you, I take Jersey for a walk

What's with all this secrecy, when all we ever do is talk?

Does this mean we're on shaky ground?

I'm happy when you're around

So let's not put our friendship at bay

I love you in a different way

Written by Nic Dalton & Tom Morgan

Check the Sneeze video HERE

And Evan's (The Lemonheads) version HERE

I've added the song to my cover versions playlist and my Trust Me playlist.

Search for Everything Flows cool cover versions and Everything Flows Trust Me on Spotify.

Previous covers of the month

1. You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 

2. Going Back To My Roots

3. Nirvana play The Vaselines

4. Slip Inside This House

5. Top 10 covers by Teenage Fanclub

6. Only Love Can Break Your Heart

7. Time For Livin' 

8. Sound and Vision 

9. All Along The Watchtower

10. I Am The Walrus 

11. Guiding Star

12. You’ll Never Walk Alone

13. Hurt

14. This Guy's In Love With You

15. I Wish I Never Saw The Sunshine

16. California Soul

18. Wonder wall 

19. Dancing In The Dark

20. Always On My Mind

21. Ceremony

22. Heroes

23. Different Drum

24. Wild Horses

25. Respect

26. Mr Tambourine Man

27. I Heard It Through The Grapevine

28. Superstar

29. Twist and Shout

30. Purple Rain

31. Baker Street

32. Not Fade Away

33. Stop Your Sobbing

34. I Don't Want To Grow Up

35. Serious Drugs

36. Dancing With Myself

37. How Does It Feel To Feel?

38. Love Buzz

39. ABBA-esque
40. Jumpin' Jack Flash

41. Discoland

42. Varshons 2 by The Lemonheads

43. The Langley Schools Music Project
44. Witchi Tai To
45. Our Lips Are Sealed
46. Sunshine Of Your Love
47. Here Comes The Sun
48. I Think We're Alone Now
49. Don't Let Me Down 
50. It's Oh So Quiet
51. Alcoholiday 
52. Summer Holiday
53. Who Do You Think You Are?
54. Head On
55. Nothing Compares 2 U

56. Hey Jude

57. Seven Days Too Long

58. L.O.V.E Love

59. Into Your Arms

60. Heart Of Glass

61. Take Me To The River

62. We Can Work It Out 

63. Talking In My Sleep

64. Lola

65. Lost In Music

66. My Little Red Book

67. Isn't It A Pity

68. Walk On By

69. Walk Away Renee

70. Tainted Love

71. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

The Jesus and Mary Chain play Darklands at Barrowland

I always have an extra spring in my step in the days leading up to a gig at the famous Glasgow Barrowland Ballroom. It's such a good feeling to have something exciting to look forward to. I guess I was particularly looking forward to The Jesus and Mary Chain playing, as (a) they don't play that often, and (b) they were playing Darklands, their 1987 album, my favourite from their back catalogue.

My friend Joe and I arrived for 7.40pm, in plenty of time to check in with our vaccine passports and head up to the hallowed ballroom to grab a couple of beers. I'd been checking out support band Spyres since the summer. A young band led by Kiera McGuire and Emily Downie, both still in their teens. Spyres have released 3 singles to date, packed with power, riffs, hooks and melodies. Think Hole meets Fleetwood Mac, with maybe a dash of Biffy and Foo Fighters thrown in for good measure.

Spyres won a busy room over with their energetic set. They really rocked out at times, while one of the new songs they played showcased how they are developing as young writers and performers. McGuire and Downie on guitars and vocals traded verses, harmonised beautifully and their duelling guitars created a glorious racket, while the rhythm section Jude Curran (bass) and Alex White (drums) underpinned everything. Their forthcoming single sounds like it will build on the solid platform provided by Otherside, Fake ID and the glorious I Don't Care.

Look out for a forthcoming feature on the band who headline Stereo on Thursday 2nd December.

On to The Mary Chain who arrived onstage at 9.15pm to a huge ovation. Jim Reid immediately unwrapped his mic from the stand, told us they would 'play Darklands, go off for a cup of tea, cause we drink tea these days believe it or not, then come back on and play b-sides, a-sides and other stuff.'

Jim's brother William set up in front of his amps and didn't stray too far from there for the whole performance. Totally lost in the sounds he created. Backed by acoustic, bass and drums, the five piece performed Darklands beautifully, plenty of space, the rhythm was there, but William's raw and loving guitar riffs were always leading the way.

Darklands was beautiful, Happy When It Rains was utterly euphoric, the band hitting their stride immediately. Jim was at the front of the stage, silhouetted by the lights which were magnificent throughout the show. All red at times, beaming like lasers at others, then full on psychedelic in the later set.

The extended version of April Skies was joyous, a real groove. Cherry Came Too was a chiming guitar delight, On The Wall was menacing and edgy in all the right ways, while About You was beautiful.

There's something warm about the rain

Darklands is such a beautiful album and it was a joy to hear and see it being performed with such love, on stage and off.

Energy levels were heightened for the second set, with the acoustic ditched for a second electric. A warm and scuzzy Come On sounded sublime, I Love Rock n Roll was blitzed and I was thrilled to hear Can't Stop The Rock which is as pop as the Mary Chain go.

We had the contrast of the sonic assault of Kill Surf City and the blissful Drop, while I was personally delighted to hear and see the band romp through Something I Can't Have, one of my favourites. The sng flows effortlessly, the Mary Chain sounding super cool.

Jim was on the lip of the stage, lights ablaze, sometimes turning and walking towards his brother William as if to check in on him. William could be facing the crowd, turned towards his brother, or more often than not he was facing his amps to see what noises he could conjure from them. His hair was beautifully messy, like he'd stuck his finger in and been electrocuted. In fact, I think he electrocuted the crowd!

Ending with the white noise (light and heat) of Never Understand, I walked away from the Barrowland with my ears ringing, my face smiling, my heart glowing from the beautiful noise generated by The Jesus and Mary Chain who were in stunning form.

Anything Goes & Everything Flows DJ mix 6

This months 1-hour (62-minute) DJ mix, inspired by the kind of tunes that would be played in McChuills or The Variety Bar back in the early 00's (where the motto was anything goes and everything flows) is a real mix of electronica, soul and northern soul, hip hop and pop. 

Having been in McChuills quite a few times over the last couple of months. I can gladly report that the focus on music is still very much anything goes and everything flows. It's an incredible place.

I'm pretty pleased with this months mix. It's quite eclectic and hopefully contains a couple of jaw dropping tracks. The kind that, if you hadn't heard them before, would cause people to come up to the DJ and ask 'What/Who is that?!' 

Kicking off with a beautiful sunshine soul funk jam by Darondo, reworked by Dave Allison - all wooooohs, strings, grooves and harmonies ... utterly sublime. If I heard this in a bar I would be asking the DJ or bar staff the song title.

Basement Jaxx still sound fresh and fun. Especially when mixed and mashed with The Clash! Daft Punk's Da Funk will stop you in your tracks with its power and intensity, Todd Terje is super playful, Peggy Lee's take on Otis Redding's classic is euphoric, Barbara Ralph is super cool, Andy Smith highlights what he can do in 7-minutes (never mind 60).

De La Soul are utterly magical with Saturdays, Neneh Cherry's Buffalo Stance still excites, Modjo and Phoenix provide euphoric vocal electro pop, Blue Boy play with a classic and then we have pure pop fun with House Arrest by Crush.

Enjoy this mix. Search for Everything Flows DJ mix 6 on Spotify or CLICK HERE

Tracklisting;

Didn't I (Dave Allison rework) - Darondo

Magnificent Romeo - Basement Jaxx

Da Funk - Daft Punk

Inspector Norse - Todd Terje

Dock Of The Bay - Peggy Lee

Can I Get A Witness - Barbara Randolph

Freestyle Mash Up - DJ Andy Smith

Saturdays - De La Soul

Buffalo Stance (12-inch mix) - Neneh Cherrry

Lady - Here Me Tonight - Modjo

Too Young - Phoenix

Remember Me - Blue Boy

House Arrest - Crush

Never Ending Mixtape part 66

 I'm still catching up with all the songs I have recently added to my Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify.

Greg Gilbert of The Delays recently died after a very brave fight against cancer. Some people don't like using the word 'fight' when talking about cancer. But as someone who has worked for cancer support and terminal care charity, it is a word I have heard a lot. Greg tweeted about his illness, health and treatment regularly. He was a very talented young man, light shone from him and on him and very sadly he leaves a young family behind. I have fond memories of catching his band The Delays at King Tuts many moons ago. Rest In Peace.

Elsewhere Primal Scream feature heavily following the release of their 12-inch singles boxset and Demodelica album. Paul Heaton is in with The Housemartins and Beautiful South after I kicked myself for not going to his gig and seeing loads of great tweets about it.

There is a great Simon & Garfunkel documentary on the iPlayer, so that prompted me to add a couple of songs, then we have some cool soul from Curtis Mayfield, The Meters and modern day soul from Gabriels. A new song from Phoebe Bridgers, Young Fathers at their best and a couple of vintage songs by The Pastels.

+ loads more.  Dig in and enjoy.

Search for Everything Flows Never Ending Mixtape on Spotify or CLICK HERE

Magician's Success - Vanishing Twin

Professional - Gabriels

Ground Level - Stereo MC's

Long Time Coming - The Delays

Wanderlust - The Delays

Come Together (Farley mix) - Primal Scream

Don't Fight It - Scat mix - Primal Scream

Screamadelica - Primal Scream

The Warhol Me - Tim Burgess

Frying Pan - Ezra Furman

Yours. To Be - Tim Burgess

French Disco - Stereolab

If You Tolerate This, Then Your Children Will Be Next - Manic St Preachers

You Stole The Sun From My Heart - Manic St Preachers

A Minor Incidence - Badly Drawn Boy

I Heard - Young Fathers

Holdin' On To Black Metal - My Morning Jacket

Circles - East Village

Build - The Housemartins

Caravan of Love - The Housemartins

You Keep It All In - The Beautiful South

A Little Time - The Beautiful South

That Funny Feeling - Phoebe Bridgers

The Only Living Boy In New York - Simon and Garfunkel

Bridge Over Troubled Water - Simon and Garfunkel

Come Together (Jam Studio Monitor mix) - Primal Scream

My Friend - Cindy

No Thing On Me (Cocaine Song) - Curtis Mayfield

Stay Away - The Meters

Friend City (Boxed in remix) - Rozi Plain

Lost Futures -  Marissa Anderson

Distant Snowy Peaks - Gruff Rhys

Thru' Your Heart - The Pastels

Not Unloved - The Pastels

Beatles & Stones - The House of Love

Lazarus (12-inch version) - The Boo Radleys

The story of Saint PHNX

Long term readers of my blog will know that I used to help manage a band from Wishaw called Vigo Thieves. I had so many good times with the band; as a manager, friend and fan.

Stevie Jukes, the singer, songwriter, frontman and driving force behind the band pushed and pulled the band as far as he could take them. Then he regrouped to write more songs.

The new songs had a new sound and feel to them and so Stevie formed Saint PHNX with his brother Alan.

Stevie and Alan aimed high from the very start, contacting all the major management companies in the world, cheekily following up on their email to The Killers management team and getting a reply.

That reply was the start of a rollercoaster ride of highs, loops and lows. Saint PHNX got close to a record deal, they got closer, they had offers, then all of a sudden they were miles away ... then they were up, playing to 25,000 people in America, record label showcases, before hitting as low as they could go, ready to give up...

I've not even told half of their story.

But a new podcast/vlog from Glasgow called GlasGo caught up with the band to get their story. I watched part 1 last night and I was enthralled. What a journey! I laughed at the two brothers bouncing off each other, marvelled at their cheek, hard work and ambition and gasped at how low they got. I wasn't aware of how bad things got.

If you're a music fan, if you're in a band, then you should watch this. Ambition, dreams, parties, huge shows, cheap flights, no money for food, sharing beds, things going horribly wrong and then a lifeline...

This is just part 1! Roll on part 2! CLICK HERE if you don't see the video embedded below.